UK Car Production Ramps up in July

Data from the auto sector revealed that car production in Britain increased strongly in July, but is still below the level of last year, after manufacturing almost completely stopped in April at the start of isolation measures to combat the Corona virus.

The Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Dealers said that 85,696 cars were manufactured in Britain in July, an increase of 51% from June but 21% less than in July of last year.

“As key global markets continue to reopen and UK car plants gradually get back to business, these figures are a marked improvement on the previous three months, but the outlook remains deeply uncertain” said Mike Hoss, CEO of the association.

The British economy contracted by a record rate of 20.4% in Q2 2020, the largest rate of contraction among all large economies, and official figures revealed that the transport equipment sector was the most affected in manufacturing, with production falling by almost half.

The association said that car production in the first six months of this year was the lowest since 1954.

The sector is now recovering strongly in the wake of the recovery of other sectors of the economy, such as retail sales, which are now at higher levels than recorded before the pandemic.